Tuesday, January 27, 2015

January 27, 2015 (KyivPost) Eleven
months after Russia started a war against Ukraine, beginning with the seizure
of Crimea, the nation’s parliament finally decided to call a spade a spade. The
Jan.27 session of the Verkhovna Rada recognized Russia as an aggressor state
and the Kremlin-backed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic
as terrorist organizations. Ukraine wants other nations to follow suit. With
271 votes out of a 421-seat body, parliament decided to send this statement to
the United Nations, European Parliament, Parliamentary Assemby of the Council
of Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, GUAM (an economic union of Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) and other countries' parliaments, asking the
world to recognize Russian aggression against Ukraine, and its occupation and
annexation of parts of Ukrainian territory. “Ukraine remains an object of
aggression on behalf of Russia, which it conducts through support and supply of
major terrorist attacks,” the statement reads. “In less than two weeks, over 50
peaceful citizens of Ukraine were killed in Volnovakha, Donetsk and Mariupol
over the shelling and actions by terrorists supported by Russia.”

Parliament also called on for
international recognition of separatists’ republics as terrorist organization
and asked for military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and more sanctions
against Russia. “Cynicism of Kremlin aggression, which includes support of
terrorists at the state level, makes killing of innocent peaceful citizens a
daily event,” the statement said. Parliament’s speaker Volodymyr Groysman said
he will sign the address shortly.

Russia and separatists later slammed
the decision of Verkhovna Rada. “This is of course mindless and irresponsible
statement, which probably aims to block the search of compromise,” said Grigory
Karasin, deputy head of Russian Foreign Ministry. “If it’s true, than it’s
impossible to talk about any Minsk agreements,” said Vladislav Deinego,
representative of government of self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. Ukrainian
lawmakers said that the new decision allows for additional ways of
internationals pressure on Russia.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

American
soldiers will deploy to Ukraine this spring to begin training four companies of
the Ukrainian National Guard, the head of US Army Europe Lt. Gen Ben Hodges
said during his first visit to Kiev on Wednesday. The number of troops heading
to the Yavoriv Training Area near the city of L'viv — which is about 40 miles
from the Polish border — is still being determined, however. The American
training effort comes as part of a US State Department initiative "to
assist Ukraine in strengthening its law enforcement capabilities, conduct
internal defense, and maintain rule of law" Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col.
Vanessa Hillman told Defense News.

After meeting with commander of the Ukrainian
Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Anatoliy Pushnyakov and acting commander of the National
Guard Lt. Gen. Oleksandr Kryvyenko during his visit, Hodges said he was
"impressed by the readiness of both military and civil leadership to
change and reform." The training was requested by the Ukrainian government
"as they work to reform their police forces and establish their newly
formed National Guard," Hillman added. Funding for the initiative is
coming from the congressionally-authorized Global Security Contingency Fund
(GSCF), which was requested by the Obama administration in the fiscal 2015
budget to help train and equip the armed forces of allies around the globe.

The training mission has been the subject of
plenty of discussion among US policy makers for months, and the United States
has already earmarked $19 million to help build the Ukrainian National Guard. "We're
very open to the idea that this becomes a first step in further training for
the Ukrainian military," Derek Chollet, former assistant secretary of
defense for international security affairs, told Defense News just before he
left the Pentagon on Jan. 17.

He was quick to add that he doesn't anticipate
that this training mission "will require significant US presence." The
mission comes at a time of increasing concern among Eastern European countries
that Russian aggression in the region will increase, and as fighting around the
eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk between government forces and Russian-backed
separatist rebels rages on.

Speaking at the Davos conference on Wednesday,
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia of sending 9,000 troops
into the eastern part of his country to back the rebels, a contention that NATO
officials have backed up, but without providing their own estimates for the
number of Russian forces in country. Chollet said Russian military incursions
into the Crimea and eastern Ukraine have refocused American attention on the
region after a decade of fighting two wars in the Middle East. "A year ago
we were worried about the future of the trans-Atlantic relationship, how would
it be relevant to people," he said. "And of course, the events of the
last year with Russia and Ukraine has focused people again on threats to
European security and the unfinished business, really, still coming out of the
end of the Cold War."

One of the biggest challenges for US policy
makers is trying to discern "where could this lead and how does this make
us think anew about European security issues and force posture issues or
defense spending issues?" he added.

In addition to US trainers, Washington is
beginning to provide heavier military equipment to the government in Kiev. On
Monday, the United Statesdelivered the first prototypeof an armored "Kozak"
vehicle for use with the Ukrainian border guard, according to the US Embassy
there.

A posting on a US government contracting site
put the cost of the vehicle at $189,000.

The vehicle is built on a chassis manufactured
by Italian company Iveco and features a V-shaped armored hull to help protect
against mines and roadside bombs. The embassy said that to date, "the
United States has delivered dozens of armored pickup trucks and vans to the
Ukrainian Border Guard Service. The Kozak is larger and offers a higher level
of protection."

Friday, January 16, 2015

January 15, 2015 The Financial Times, one of the world’s
leading business news organizations, has expressed recently its great concern
regarding spreading of Russian aggression towards the Balkans. In the article
titled as “Balkans may become next playground for Vladimir Putin” FT quoted a
statement taken by the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel taken during
the G20 summit in Brisbane Australia. One of the most respected European
politicians expressed the assumption regarding
the further march of events in Ukraine. The Kremlin could withdraw
its troops from eastern Ukraine and try to re-establish its relations with the
West. Another option is to increase the pressure on the West and to destroy its
unity of action.

.....The Ukraine crisis is stoking fears in western capitals
that Moscow is now seeking to impose its will in other countries in Eastern
Europe, including the Balkans. Angela Merkel gave voice to such concerns during
a trip to Australia for this month’s G20 summit, saying she did not want to
return to the days when Moscow could dictate decisions in other eastern
European capitals. “It’s not just about Ukraine, it’s about Georgia. If
this goes any further, will we have wonder about Serbia, about the western
Balkans?” the chancellor said. And she made clear Germany would respond,
saying: “This is in no way in line with our values.”....

Thursday, January 15, 2015

January 13 2015At
approximately 2:30 pm, Russian terrorists attacked the checkpoint of ATO forces
close to the town of Volnovakha with artillery and hit a scheduled bus
transporting civilians. Missile launch was conducted from the center of the
town Dokuchayevsk, using a multiple missile launcher system "Grad". As
a result, 12 civilians were killed on the spot and 17 injured. Ukraine says
some 8,500 Russian regular troops are helping the rebels.

Ukraine
will begin a phased army conscription drive on 20 January, with an initial
intake of 50,000. More than 100,000 at the age from 20 till 60 will be drafted
into the Ukrainian army this year, under the plan. More than 4,700 people have
been killed and more than 10,000 wounded since the rebels took control of a big
swathe of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine last April. Many more
civilians have been displaced by the fighting. Russia denies sending regular
troops and heavy weapons there, but admits that Russian "volunteers"
are helping the rebels.

Ukrainian
forces face heavily armed and well-trained rebels in the east